Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
Dec 1st 2010, 12:06 pm
#76
Bitter and twisted
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Upmarket
Posts: 17,503
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
I would suggest that any of you nice people currently living in warm, sunny climes far away from the shores of the UK, and harbouring thoughts and desires of returning to live back home here again, at least wait until this current ****ing freezing, snowy, icy, winter has come to an end.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches.
I would gladly swap for "freezing, snowy, icy, winter" on many days (and nights).
There is far more to life than hot weather
Dec 1st 2010, 12:11 pm
#77
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
I would suggest that any of you nice people currently living in warm, sunny climes far away from the shores of the UK, and harbouring thoughts and desires of returning to live back home here again, at least wait until this current ****ing freezing, snowy, icy, winter has come to an end. It seems to have been dragging on for ages already - snow and icy and bitingly cold north east winds day after day - and it's still only the first of December, and in meterological terms the first of December is officially the first day of the winter season. What a hoot that is.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
Dec 1st 2010, 3:36 pm
#79
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 202
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
When we first became expats, I didn't want to go back the the UK on holiday for two reasons, firstly because I felt I was sick of it and wanted to see the back of it, but secondly (and probably more revealingly) I didn't want to be torn in any way or reliant on Brit products and come back with suitcases stuffed with supplies.I threw myself into the move 'away'.
Fast forward quite a few years to find me returning to the UK for a couple of fact finding tours and I understand what LisaP said "We went to London for a holiday in the spring and it just confirmed, totally and absolutely to me that England was the place to be for us. "
Meeting the UK, it's people and bustle again, was like falling in love with an old flame who has aged quite well and who may have cleaned up some of the bad habits (though, can't think which of my old flames that analogy would fit with!). Any of the faults or wrinkles doesn't conceal the sheer gorgeousness of the UK.
I have a few misgivings, I can remember my good reasons for wanting out in the first place. But I guess sometimes you can travel the whole world just to want to end up on your old doorstep again?
My fear is getting there and thinking "Oh ####, WHAT have I done???"
Fast forward quite a few years to find me returning to the UK for a couple of fact finding tours and I understand what LisaP said "We went to London for a holiday in the spring and it just confirmed, totally and absolutely to me that England was the place to be for us. "
Meeting the UK, it's people and bustle again, was like falling in love with an old flame who has aged quite well and who may have cleaned up some of the bad habits (though, can't think which of my old flames that analogy would fit with!). Any of the faults or wrinkles doesn't conceal the sheer gorgeousness of the UK.
I have a few misgivings, I can remember my good reasons for wanting out in the first place. But I guess sometimes you can travel the whole world just to want to end up on your old doorstep again?
My fear is getting there and thinking "Oh ####, WHAT have I done???"
Just went back for a visit in October, and now suddenly my DH and I both have the same feeling, suddenly we both want to go back. I think your comment about an old flame with cleaned up bad habits is so true. We found that many of the things we disliked about the UK when we left were no longer there, there are so many more similarities between Canada and the UK than there were when we left....or maybe when you get older its just a natural feeling to "go back to your roots".
But I agree with you its very frightening to make the move and then think "OH NO...what did I do". We are still thinking about it......
Dec 1st 2010, 7:58 pm
#80
Home Sweet Home
Joined: Jan 2010
Location: Surrey, England
Posts: 5,128
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
Great post, you've given me some heart there. I now accept ones view of England/UK comes down to absolutely being in the right place. That message has finally sank home.
It's must be far more polarised than most of Aus. I guess coming here at age 25 has made me slightly naive and hesitant to accept what looks to others like an obvious and glaring fact.
Problem with this is I cannot really stay or reside in any area that I am familar or have lived in the past back in the UK.
No wonder my Brothers Village of Simpson, (suprisingly in Milton Keynes) with it's Thatched cottages and 15th century church, canal and pubs and country walks scored so highly with me.
Heres a pic just across the road from my Brothers house.... yes it is in central MK.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/13...51a693d7e2.jpg
It's must be far more polarised than most of Aus. I guess coming here at age 25 has made me slightly naive and hesitant to accept what looks to others like an obvious and glaring fact.
Problem with this is I cannot really stay or reside in any area that I am familar or have lived in the past back in the UK.
No wonder my Brothers Village of Simpson, (suprisingly in Milton Keynes) with it's Thatched cottages and 15th century church, canal and pubs and country walks scored so highly with me.
Heres a pic just across the road from my Brothers house.... yes it is in central MK.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/13...51a693d7e2.jpg
Nooo it is not an obvious fact at all for some of us it is a gradual realisation, I came here when I was 28 full of gung ho and let's do it, 28 year later I find myself a whole different person to who I was then...........
Dec 1st 2010, 8:06 pm
#81
Home Sweet Home
Joined: Jan 2010
Location: Surrey, England
Posts: 5,128
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
I would suggest that any of you nice people currently living in warm, sunny climes far away from the shores of the UK, and harbouring thoughts and desires of returning to live back home here again, at least wait until this current ****ing freezing, snowy, icy, winter has come to an end. It seems to have been dragging on for ages already - snow and icy and bitingly cold north east winds day after day - and it's still only the first of December, and in meterological terms the first of December is officially the first day of the winter season. What a hoot that is.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
Have you actually ever lived outside the UK in a place that has just 2 seasons?
Dec 2nd 2010, 1:33 am
#83
Finally Home!
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Used to be New York, now North Yorkshire
Posts: 3,610
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
I would suggest that any of you nice people currently living in warm, sunny climes far away from the shores of the UK, and harbouring thoughts and desires of returning to live back home here again, at least wait until this current ****ing freezing, snowy, icy, winter has come to an end. It seems to have been dragging on for ages already - snow and icy and bitingly cold north east winds day after day - and it's still only the first of December, and in meterological terms the first of December is officially the first day of the winter season. What a hoot that is.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
How I envy you those clear blue skies and hot sunshine and lovely beaches. It's no use me escaping this icy cold, snowy weather here by nipping down to the south of Spain for a long weekend where my sister and bro in law have a shared holiday home close to Malaga, as it's been doing nothing but pi$$ felines and canines day after day down on the Costas at the present time - virtually non stop.
You sound unhappy in the UK Lothianland. Are you not able to leave?
Dec 2nd 2010, 10:24 am
#84
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, England
Posts: 1,494
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
However I still find myself thinking of a life in a more distant part of the English speaking world and North America has often appealed - at first Canada and then the USA - how long for I don't really know for sure as I know in my heart I would eventually come back to the UK - to Scotland, and definitely to Edinburgh - after a few years, say twenty or thirty years. I shall be 29 in April and that scares me a wee bit - heading towards middle age and all that stuff. But as I say, in spite of the sort of yearning to experience life in another country outside of Europe (English speaking a must for me - sorry to be so "parochial but I make my living through the use of our beautiful homegrown English language) I don't think it will ever happen for reasons I gave earlier on in this post.
I am not really unhappy living in the UK at all - this country really does have so many good things going for it, but there are also quite a few negatives - recent seemingly unrestricted immigration, often from outside of the EU or Europe generally, a decline in social standards in many quarters (you can thank the last Government for that in my opinion) and of course this sodding rotten weather.
Already I am pi$$ed off with all this snow and the persistent cold and the problems getting around and all the transport holdups - I live fairly close to Edinburgh International Airport and recently it has been more non-operational than operational due to the continual snowfalls, which could be a blessing in disguise as the skies are quieter.
That's another thing which annoys me about this country of mine - it simply can't handle snowy, icy weather conditions too well, as most other northern European countries can and do - the same applying to the United States and Canada, too, of course...they manage efficiently in far worse conditions.
The UK always seems to grind to a halt whenever there is a heavy fall of snow, and lessons never seem to be learned. Last winter 2009/10 was very cold and snowy and chaos reigned supreme and now this winter is turning out to be even worse so far, and still many authorities are taken "by surprise" and are "unprepared"!
Gatwick Airport in the south of England has been closed today due to 15 inches of snow - I'm glad it's now their turn down there in the South! Journeys that normally take an hour or two at most now seem to take up[ to eight hours, train services are hit and miss, and today, Thursday 02/12/10, over half of the UK's schools were closed "due to the weather".
This country is now governed by "Health and Safety Regulations" which are now turning us all into a load of limp wristed wimps. 
Last edited by Lothianlad; Dec 2nd 2010 at 10:30 am.
Dec 2nd 2010, 10:44 am
#85
In my own little world!
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Sydney
Posts: 2,062
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
Bless you, you're a spring chicken still! Well, maybe a slightly frozen one given the current weather! Loads of time for you yet. 50 is supposedly the new 'middle-age' now........ (she says hopefully!)
Dec 2nd 2010, 10:46 am
#86
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2004
Location: CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, England
Posts: 1,494
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
I run a small weather station in my back garden here in the western suburbs of Edinburgh and the current air temperature (as registered in a Stephenson screen) here at 23:30hrs is -14.7C, and nearby Edinburgh Airport is registering -12.6C. Standing outside in the garden right now it hurts your lungs with each deep intake of breath.
Down in Shropshire, England, Shawbury is currently registering -18.1C so a wee bit tough on all their extremities. Wharever happened to global warming?
I reckon the Gulf Stream has been badly weakened by melting arctic ice - as the experts predicted, therefore making the UK and Western Europe a lot colder in winter - who knows.
Down in Shropshire, England, Shawbury is currently registering -18.1C so a wee bit tough on all their extremities. Wharever happened to global warming?
I reckon the Gulf Stream has been badly weakened by melting arctic ice - as the experts predicted, therefore making the UK and Western Europe a lot colder in winter - who knows.
Dec 2nd 2010, 10:46 am
#87
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Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas, Nv
Posts: 1,000
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
Dec 2nd 2010, 1:40 pm
#88
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,100
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
here is our experience.
I understand where your question comes from. We asked ourselves many times. For us the move to US and move back to UK was brought about by external forces providing the opportunity / occasion rather than a grand personal desire to make the move - the pull for me was always in the direction of UK.
We lived in US for 18 yrs, moving with husbands employer.
Me, the trailing spouse had ebb and flow in my feelings about both countries. In the first 5 yrs in US I did not travel back to UK for fear that if I did I would just stay and not go back to US, I was unable to settle there in US my own mind.
Then after about 10 yrs, and a rainy week holiday in London I was so glad to be going back 'home' to the US.
Recently after 18 yrs, me retired and when DH employment was forcing a move in the US, my / his feeling was if I had to move I wanted it to be UK , although would have stayed in US if that is what DH wanted. However, he responded to my needs and we moved to UK.
I was worried about the future cost of healthcare in US if anything were to happen, that's me wanting to avoid what-if worries that may never happen. Also if DH died (he has not indicated he plans to) then I would certainly wouldn't want to stay / couldn't afford to stay in US alone.
So how do I feel now that I am back, well, relief, home at last , I never felt that US could ever be home. However, I feel the price is a lower quality of life somehow in a way that I cannot define easily, regards culture of peoples attitude and pessimism. But we will live our own lives. do what we enjoy, look over the heads of sour faces. DH has yet to find anything in UK that makes the UK fantastically better than US, but then has equal feeling that US is not exceptional better than UK, he is accepting that this is where we will stay and has no burning desire to return to US. The two countries are just different worlds, no regrets on either.
When you come to a fork in life's road, boldly make a choice based on how you feel at the time and don't look back.
Best wishes in your choices,
I understand where your question comes from. We asked ourselves many times. For us the move to US and move back to UK was brought about by external forces providing the opportunity / occasion rather than a grand personal desire to make the move - the pull for me was always in the direction of UK.
We lived in US for 18 yrs, moving with husbands employer.
Me, the trailing spouse had ebb and flow in my feelings about both countries. In the first 5 yrs in US I did not travel back to UK for fear that if I did I would just stay and not go back to US, I was unable to settle there in US my own mind.
Then after about 10 yrs, and a rainy week holiday in London I was so glad to be going back 'home' to the US.
Recently after 18 yrs, me retired and when DH employment was forcing a move in the US, my / his feeling was if I had to move I wanted it to be UK , although would have stayed in US if that is what DH wanted. However, he responded to my needs and we moved to UK.
I was worried about the future cost of healthcare in US if anything were to happen, that's me wanting to avoid what-if worries that may never happen. Also if DH died (he has not indicated he plans to) then I would certainly wouldn't want to stay / couldn't afford to stay in US alone.
So how do I feel now that I am back, well, relief, home at last , I never felt that US could ever be home. However, I feel the price is a lower quality of life somehow in a way that I cannot define easily, regards culture of peoples attitude and pessimism. But we will live our own lives. do what we enjoy, look over the heads of sour faces. DH has yet to find anything in UK that makes the UK fantastically better than US, but then has equal feeling that US is not exceptional better than UK, he is accepting that this is where we will stay and has no burning desire to return to US. The two countries are just different worlds, no regrets on either.
When you come to a fork in life's road, boldly make a choice based on how you feel at the time and don't look back.
Best wishes in your choices,
Dec 2nd 2010, 1:42 pm
#89
Finally Home!
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Used to be New York, now North Yorkshire
Posts: 3,610
Re: Gone back to UK for holiday & changed your mind about returning?
Great post Lothianland.
To this 40-something, you sound as though you have it made - great job, great country, happy relationship and Europe right on your doorstep - but being 29 I totally understand that you sometimes want more ... or rather different.
I was 24 when I went to Canada and 30 when I left there for the US. I was sick of Thatcher and what her government was doing to my beloved north and I was bored in my job and I couldn't wait to leave England. Then I was so excited to arrive in the US - sunshine! Big houses! Money! American Dream! - but have become disillusioned in more ways that I could count. I don't exactly regret the decision - well, not every day anyway and I am very fortunate financially, unlike most people in this godforsaken country. But I've come to understand that friends and family mean more than I ever understood at 26. And that home really is home. (Your own people are nutty but they're nutty in a way you can understand. Americans? I will never ever understand as long as I live). And finally, I have come to appreciate the NHS for the wonderful gift that it is.
As the Faces sang 'I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.'
To this 40-something, you sound as though you have it made - great job, great country, happy relationship and Europe right on your doorstep - but being 29 I totally understand that you sometimes want more ... or rather different.
I was 24 when I went to Canada and 30 when I left there for the US. I was sick of Thatcher and what her government was doing to my beloved north and I was bored in my job and I couldn't wait to leave England. Then I was so excited to arrive in the US - sunshine! Big houses! Money! American Dream! - but have become disillusioned in more ways that I could count. I don't exactly regret the decision - well, not every day anyway and I am very fortunate financially, unlike most people in this godforsaken country. But I've come to understand that friends and family mean more than I ever understood at 26. And that home really is home. (Your own people are nutty but they're nutty in a way you can understand. Americans? I will never ever understand as long as I live). And finally, I have come to appreciate the NHS for the wonderful gift that it is.
As the Faces sang 'I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.'
